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The Art of Simple Cooking
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Finally... I got around to trying my first recipe from the book! I made the Minestrone following the basic recipe fairly closely. I used Dried Cannellini beans from Rancho Gordo (which were wonderful just by themselves!). This makes a very thick, robust soup just chock full of yummy veggies. I felt it was a bit shy on color and liquid, so I added a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes and also added crushed red pepper flakes to kick it a bit. We served it with the suggested parmesan cheese and EVOO garnish and it was really good, definitely one to make again!
I'm thinking about trying the garlic soup next. I liked the sound of the minestrone but could totally understand the need to add tomato. Minestrone to me is one those things that you want the way your mother makes it and mine always adds tomato and cabbage (one of the things I like about italians is the way they embrace things like cabbage and tripe!).
Tonight we had the Pot Roast, and I really tried not to mess with the recipe too much, but gee..... I really like to put a pot roast in the oven to braise, so I did (yesterday actually...... and then I chilled overnight, defatted the sauce and brought it back up to temp in the oven today) It was...... Pot Roast..... falling to nice tender shreds with a very tasty pot liquor. Not rocket science, but a very tasty dinner.
Having said that I didn't have the chance to season the bird a day or two before as she suggests but maybe next time. I have a bad habit of NOT reading recipes before I start them. I also did my mom's trick of adding sliced onion and potato to the bottom of the pan and a thin film of water at the bottom!
The chicken was very good. The breast meat was tender and juicy and the skin was golden and crisp. This was a mimimal effort roast chicken and well worth a try...